60-year-old Asian man carjacked, beaten to death in Philadelphia

A 60-year-old Asian man was beaten to death after a carjacking in Philly on Thursday.  

The attack happened at around 10 p.m. Thursday evening at the intersection of 3rd St. and Cambridge St. in Philadelphia's Northern Liberties neighborhood.   

Police tracked the stolen car up to New Jersey where they found it abandoned on a property in Camden and are still trying to identify suspects in the altercation.  

The man beaten was 60-year-old Peter Chan from Chinatown. After investigators found him beaten to the ground, he was bleeding and only semi-conscious. He died less than an hour later when he was taken to a nearby hospital.  

Witnesses told police that motorcyclists pulled up to Chan's parked SUV and pulled him out of the car with their faces covered. One of the suspects broke into the vehicle and drove it away and the rest followed on their bikes. Chan had been waiting for his wife in the car when he was attacked.  

Chief Inspector Scott Small of Philadelphia told reporters, "Camden police are going to hold that vehicle and guard that for prints and DNA, so hopefully, we can get some fingerprints or DNA to help us identify the perpetrator." 

Jamal Johnson, another victim of a carjacking four years ago, said it happened to him in the same spot. "When it happened to me, it was a gun. I'm like, 'Hey, you have a gun.' That's extremely brutal. I can't imagine someone beating someone to that point. And then being like, 'Okay, he's knocked out, let's go.'" 

In the past several years, carjacking cases have been steadily rising in the city. 2019 only had 224 cases, but by last year the number of cases reached over 1,300.  


Source: CBS News Philadephia, Police reports up to 12.29.2022

Congressional Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) herself was a victim of the crime in 2021.  

In a statement she released at the time, Scanlon said that there has been a "spike in certain crimes across the country, including gun violence and carjacking.  No one should have to experience this kind of lawlessness, and I will continue to push for resources and policies that help to reduce violence in our communities."